Coffee shop - Petticoat Lane: 1872

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View of the interior of a crowded coffee shop in Petticoat Lane, from 'London: a pilgrimage' by Blanchard Jerrold and Gustave Doré, 1872.
Jerrold describes the difficulties of rising above poverty and crime. "Once they come here [the East End]," said one of our police guides, "the best of them are lost. They cann't help it. Some will struggle for a long time; but unless they are fortunate enough to get away, they are done for. You see ... they fall in with all sorts - except those who could do them any good. That's how it begins with manly of them. The rest are born to it".